Blue Jays experience pitching drought down on farm
Not much young talent left after last year’s trade deadline purge
The Blue Jays are struggling to find quality outings from the bullpen and there doesn’t seem to be much help on the way, even if three injured relievers — Aaron Loup, Bo Schultz and Franklin Morales — return soon from the disabled list.
Struggles? Consider that the Jays’ bullpen entered the final game of this White Sox series with a record of 0-7 and a 4.03 ERA, with five blown saves — second-most in the AL to the Twins — and the third-worst opponent batting average (.259).
Every night, the Jays need the starting rotation to take them deep into games. and seven-plus innings has not been happening enough.
A recent formula for building a successful bullpen seems to be to identify a closer and maybe two or three key setup men. Find a couple of electric young arms from down on the farm with nasty stuff and put them in middle relief. Add enough stabilizing vets to add presence for the six-month run, then play ball.
The Jays are still looking to identify any dynamic arms from their minor-league system that can help right now. At the start of last season, a couple of surprise 20-year-olds —right-handers Roberto Osuna and Miguel Castro — earned roster spots on opening day, with Osuna ending up as the closer. There have been no such surprise contributors this year after trading 12 mostly young pitchers from the farm at last season’s trade deadline. In return, the Jays gained David Price, Troy Tulowitzki, Ben Revere and an AL East crown.
“A lot of guys were traded, but I’m not sure how many were impact and bullpen-type guys,” manager John Gibbons said.
“We really liked Castro, but we had to do that. We’ll see.”
For the sake of this study, let’s establish the definition of young pitcher as anything under 27 years of age as of today’s date. The Blue Jays, at the behest of former GM Alex Anthopoulos, traded away 10 such pitchers last July 28-31. Among those were left-hander Felix Doubront, 28, who has undergone recent Tommy John surgery, and lefty Rob Rasmussen, 27, who has retired. But back to the Jays. Among the 10 current pitchers in the bullpen, including those on the DL, only Osuna and Rule 5 righthander Joe Biagini (25) are younger than 27. At Triple-A Buffalo, only two of 13 pitchers — Drew Hutchison and Chad Girodo — are in that group. That’s four, total.
Let’s examine the list of 10 youngsters Anthopoulos traded away at last year’s deadline and see if Gibbons is right to question if they were impact and bullpen types would have helped: Major Leagues (3)
RH Miguel Castro, LH Daniel Norris and LH Matt Boyd
Norris, 23, was in the Jays’ opening day rotation a year ago. He was on the Tigers disabled list at the end of this spring training but is doing well on his rehab option and will re-join the major-league rotation when ready. Boyd, 25, also acquired in the Price eal, began the season at Triple-A Toledo but was called up to the Tigers and has made one start. Castro, 21, is in the Rockies bullpen, throwing fastballs in the high 90s and has made six appearances with a1.50 ERA. Triple-A (1)
RH Jeff Hoffman
Perhaps the top MLB prospect surrendered by the Jays at the deadline, Hoffman, 23, sat out his first pro season with the Blue Jays following Tommy John surgery. He is 2-0 with a 1.99 ERA in four starts.
Full-season Class A (4) RH Jesus Tinoco, LH Jairo Labourt, RH Alberto Tirado and LH Nick Wells
Tinoco, 20, was the third pitcher in the Tulowitzki deal. He is a modest 0-3, 14.85 ERA in four starts at Modesto. Labourt, 22, was the third pitcher in the Price trade with the Tigers. He is 1-0, 1.80 ERA in four games at Lakeland in the Florida State League. Tirado, 21, was one of two pitchers dealt to the Phillies for Revere. He has no decisions and a 9.00 ERA in seven games. Wells, 20, has made three starts at Clinton (M’s) of the Midwest League, with a 1-2 mark and a 7.53 ERA. He was one of three pitchers in the deal for reliever Mark Lowe.
Extended spring training (2) RH Jimmy Cordero and LH Jake Brentz
Cordero, 24, was the second pitcher to the Phillies for Revere, while Brentz, 21, was third man in for the Lowe trade to Seattle.
Gibbons may thus be correct in assessing that last July’s trading spree is not the root cause of the major-league bullpen issues this season. That suggests there was already a depth problem on the farm causing these relief woes.
But it does explain the logic behind the number of experienced starting pitchers that were signed as free agents in the off-season and invited to camp. Consider that of the Bisons’ 21 starts thus far this season, 12 are by pitchers that are in the organization for the first time.
The Jays continue to search for solutions to their bullpen woes.